Is Your Church Ready for Co-Vocationality?

The number of co-vocational congregations is growing exponentially in Canada— for missional and theological reasons as well as financial realities.

Especially in the latter case, research by Dr. Ross Bartlett finds that many are ‘crashing’ into co-vocationality rather than prayerfully, purposefully transitioning.There are countless causes for this. One of the most common is the perceived stigma.

But what if there are different ways to think about this?

Certainly, scripture paints the picture of a priesthood of all believers and a community of ‘sent ones’ who use their gifts to serve in the local church and the world. Historically, the model of a full-time pastor is a relatively recent development. And throughout much of the world, co-vocationality is common in thriving churches.

In the strictest sense, a co-vocational congregation is one without a full-time pastor. Leadership is provided by one or more pastors who are paid part-time and who also work elsewhere.

However, thriving co-vocational churches share at least three other important traits. It is completely possible for biblically grounded, forward-thinking churches to prayerfully and purposefully transition into co-vocational congregations—alongside the many others who are joining what might well be a movement of God.

Three Traits of Co-Vo Ready Churches

Vision and Fit

First and foremost, thriving co-vocational churches have found a way to “courageously grasp a new vision of faithfulness" that includes rethinking what the church looks like.2 This process can take time.

Andrew Root reminds us that the early church began in Acts 1 with attentive waiting. We are “called to wait because [the church] is always to be looking for the living Jesus Christ’s action in the world."3 Indeed, “we have learned from other crises the church has faced … that the only way out is not to focus on the church but instead to return our attention to the God who acts."4

This season of attentive waiting allows time for God to reveal the path forward and shape us as a faith community.

Bartlett speaks of the “deeply rooted norms” in churches that may hold us back. Sarah Drummond laments the rise of “de facto congregationalism"5, where the laity has “pay for service” rather than service mindsets. She also explains that every church has a theory of change (unspoken assumptions about the expected outcome of an action, for example, that a strong children’s program will cause the congregation to grow6) that tends to lock us into one (often backwards focused) way of seeing a way forward.

Congregational Fit

There is a misconception that co-vocational ministry only works in small churches. Still, researchers have shown that congregational fit is related to less to size than to the degree of “group-centeredness” versus “pastor centeredness.”7 Churches that have depended on a single leader to provide direction and pastoral care will have a harder time transitioning than those with a theological and practical openness to shared ministry, team leadership, and valuing the pastor’s main role as equipper of saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:12).

So Christ gave himself the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so the body of Christ may be built up. —Ephesians 4:12 NIV 

Pastoral Fit

Similarly, pastors committed to recent models of ministry and leadership may struggle with this model. The same is true for pastors who would prefer a full-time role. While levels of burnout in co-vocational pastors (CVs) are lower than their full-time peers, those who would prefer to be full-time show higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.8 Other pastoral fit factors include the unique relationship between the pastor’s personality and gifts, their family, the congregation, and their additional employment.

In our conversations with co-vocational pastors, we find that some share a strong vision of community engagement and “a different kind of church.” Others “fall into it unexpectedly.” Many CVs are mid or late-career people who sensed a quiet prompting from God to consider leadership in their home church.

How does this shift our thinking about the work of search committees? Might there be people in our pews that God is calling? It also raises the question of theological education. What training does a CV need?

Dr. Daryl Stephens goes a step further, proposing co-vocational churches as places of theological education for the congregation, learning alongside their CVs and being equipped according to their gifts.

This leads us to the second criterion of thriving co-vocational churches.

Shared Ministry and Leadership

We noted above that CVs who feel called to this type of ministry experience lower burnout rates. In fact, 80% of CVs describe their overall health and wellness as good or great vs. 62% of full-time pastors. Additionally, while 15% of full-time clergy often consider leaving the ministry, this number drops to 8% for CVs.10 Part of the reason for this is found is the practical outworking of a theology of gift-based ministry. When the congregation adopts a co-vocational mindset, everyone is released to serve according to their gifts, spreading leadership responsibility and resulting in more diverse models of ministry.

This shift can be challenging—which is why we suggest number three.

Intentional Coaching and Training

Churches benefit from coaching toward a vision and a viable plan for congregational ministry. Co-vocational congregations are much more than a church with a part-time pastor.

  1. There are potential pitfalls to avoid. For example, CV churches can quickly become inward-focused if the congregation expects the pastor to still “do it all” and to focus on Sunday services and visitation.
  2. There may be unfair expectations. For example, CV congregations need more administrative support, not less, and congregations that recently had a full-time pastor may quickly fall back into old ways of thinking about their pastor's role.11 

However, there are also tremendous opportunities for the Gospel to transform lives, for pastors to be healthy and resilient, and for congregations to thrive. 

Targeted coaching and training is key.

We can help.

Contact us at Co-Vocational Canada.

Keep Reading

Unlocking the Mystery of COVO Congregations: Part 1

Strategies for Resilience in Co-Vocational Ministry


References

Bartlett, I. Ross & Jones, Kate. It’s Real Ministry: How Part-time and Bi-vocational Clergy are Challenging and Empowering the Church. Altona, MB: FriesenPress, 2022.

IBID, 52.

Root, Andrew & Bertrand, Blair D. When Church Stops Working: A Future for Congregations beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazo Press, 2023, 70.

IBID, 79.

Jackson Carroll, God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and Shaping Congregations, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans2006), 33.

 Drummond, Sarah. Holy Clarity: The Practice of Planning and Evaluation. Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009.

 Edington, Mark D. W.  Bivocational: Returning to the Roots of Ministry, New York: Church Publishing, 2018.

Watson, J., Malcolm, W., Chapman M.D., Fisher E. A., Draper, M., Santos, N.F., Siebert, J. & Bratton A. Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project, Research Report, 2020; W. Grosch and D. Olsen. 2000. “Clergy Burnout: An Integrative Approach.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 56 (5): 619–632.

 9 Stephens, Darryl. “Bivocational Ministry as the Congregation’s Curriculum” Religions v12, n56, 2021.

 10 G. Jeffrey MacDonald, “Full-time ministry drains too many clergy and church budgets. Part-time pastors can help.” Presbyterian Outlook, March 20, 2024

11 Bartlett, It’s Real Ministry.

 

Ellen Duffield

Ellen is Coordinator for the Paul E. Magnus Centre for Leadership Studies at Briercrest Seminary and an affiliate of Leader's Village. She is also the author of The Brave Way (2019) and blogs at bravewomen.ca.

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